Door-latch for silos.



K. J. BELL.

DOOR LATCH FOR SUJOS. APPLIGATION FILED 0013.15 1910.

f Patented May 1911.

FBI/graze snares KELLER J. BELL, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

noon-LATCH non SILOS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pat t d Ma 23, 1911.

Application filed October 15, 1910. Serial No. 587,340.

a latch for silo doors of simple, durable andinexpensive construction,capable of being readily and easily operated; and further to provide alatch of this kind that may be used in combination with a silo door andframe to form a ladder whereby an operator may ascend to the top of thesilo without danger of'said latch slipping and thereby causing a personclimbing thereon to fall.

My invention consists in certain details, in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a silo door frame forming acontinuous opening and two doors in position within the frame, the lowerdoor having a latch mounted thereon in open position and the upper doorhaving a latch mounted thereon in closed position, and F igl 2 shows ahorizontal, sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the referencenumeral 10 to indicate the two upright pieces of "the body portion of asilo adjacent the door frame. Said door frame consists of two angleirons 11 extending vertically adjacent to the inner edges of the uprightpieces 10 and having one angle extending inwardly toward the center ofthe door. A series of cross pieces 12 formed of channel iron extendhorizontally across the continuous opening and are spaced apart adistance equal to the length of one of the door members hereinafterdescribed. Said channel irons are fastened at each end by means of boltsor other desirable means to oth the angle irons 11 and the uprightpieces 10, thereby serving to form braces for the door frame and at thesame time alternating with the latches on the door members, hereinaftermore fully dethe inner ends of said latch members.

scribed, to form a ladder upon which an operator may safely and easilyclimb. A series of doors 13 for normally closing said continuous openingare constructed of cross slats let which extend horizontally across theopening. The ends of said slats 1 1 overlap the edges of the uprightpieces 10 on the inner surface thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Theupright door members 15 extend in a vertical direction parallel to andin engagement with the angle irons 11. The cross slats 14 are bolted orotherwise securely fastened to said upright door members 15.

For the purpose of holding the doors firmly in position in the frame, Iprovide the following meansi Two latch members 16 and 17 having slots 18extending longitudinally thereof are slidingly and pivotally' mounted onthe upright door members 15 by means of the bolts 19. Said bolts 19extend through the slots 18 and are firmly fixed to the door members 15so that the latch members 16 and 17 are free to move inwardly andupwardly for a limited distance relative to said bolts 19, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1. The outer ends 20 of the latch members 16 and 17normally overlap the inwardly extending portion of the angle irons 15 sothat when the latch members 16 and 17 are in closed position the door 13will be firmly clamped in position within the frame. The

latch members 16 and 17 are pivotally counectcd with each other by meansof the bolt 21. l y

Inorder to limit the downward movement of the latch members 16 and 17, Iprovide the lugs 22 and 23 formed on the upper edge of the latch members16 and 17 adjaccntto The lug 22 extends inwardly and downwardly relativeto the latch member 16 and the lug 23 extends outwardly and downwardlyrelative to the latch member 17 so that when the latch members 16 and 17are in closed position the lugs 22 and 23 on said latch member willengage the upper edge of the other latch member and thereby hold saidlatch members rigidly in position extending hori-, zontally across thedoor. The latch mom hers 1G and 17 extend outwardly relative to the doorat points indicated by the reference numeral 2st so that an operator mayconveniently climb thereon. The ends 20 of the latch members 16 and 17have their upper corners rounded so that when the latch is in openposition said corners will be free from engagement with the angle irons11 and the door may be readily and easily removed from position withinthe frame. Washers 25 are mounted. on the bolts 19 between the latchmembers and the door mem bers 15 to hold the latch members spaced apartfrom the door members 15 and in position for readily engaging the outersurface of the angle irons 11. The under surface of the ends 20 of thelatch members are beveled, as shown in Fig. 2, so that .when the door isin position within the frame and the inner ends of the latch members aremoved downwardly the beveled portion of the ends 20 will readily engagethe angle irons 11 and draw the door 13 more firmly into position withinthe frame.

In practical operation and assuming that the operator wishes to adjustthe door 14; to position within the casing, he adjusts the latch members16 and 17 to position, as shown on the lower door member 14 in Fig. 1.The door is then placed in position within the frame and by manuallypressing downwardly upon the upwardly extending ends of the latchmembers 16 and 17, said latch members will move downwardly and outwardlyand the outer ends 20 of said latch members will overlap the inwardlyextending angles of the angle irons 15 and thereby hold the door 14firmly clamped within the. frame as clearly shown in the upper portionof Fig. 1.

From the above description, it is obvious that the operator may easilyand readily disengage the latch for the purpose of removing the door bysimply pressing upwardly on the inwardly extending ends of the latchmembers 16 and 17 or at a point adjacent to the bolt 21.

.I claim as my invention: 1. A device of the class described, comprisinga silo having a door opening therein, a door member for normally closingsaid opening, and a latch for clamping said door within the openingcomprising two latch members rotatably and slidingly mounted on the doormember and having outwardly extending ends for detachably engaging'thesides ofsaid opening, substantially as described and for the purposesstated.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, adoor detachably mounted in the frame, a latch for clamping the doorwithin the frame comprising two latch members rotatably and slidinglymounted on the door member and having outwardly extending ends fordetachable en- -gagement with the frame, said latch members beingpivotally connected with each other, and means on each of the latchmembers for engaging the oppositelatch member to limit the downwardmovement thereof.

in said frame, one above the other, a series of latches mounted on saiddoor members, each comprising two latch members rotatably and slidinglymounted on the door members and having outwardly extending ends fordetachable engagement with the frame, said latch members being pivotallyconnected with each other, and means on each of the latch members forengaging the opposite latch member to limit the downward movementthereof, said parts being so ar-- ran ed andconstructed that the seriesof latches combine with the frame to form a ladder, substantially ,asdescribed.

4. In a device'of 'the, class described, the combination of a frame,comprising two angle irons extending the opposite sides 0 verticallyadjacent to. a silo door to form a continuous opening, and having theangles extending .inwardly toward the center of the opening, a series ofchannel irons extending horizontally across the opening uniformly spacedapart'and having the ends thereof attached to the angle irons, a seriesof doors of uniform size designed to be detachably mounted in the frame,a series of latches mounted on said door members, each comprising twolatch members having slots extending longitudinally thereof, adjacent tothe outwardly extending ends of. said latch members, bolts extendingthrough the slots and fixed to the door members, a bolt for pivotallyconnecting said latch members with each other, lugs on the outwardlyextending ends of-the latch members for detachable engagement with theframe, and lugs formed on the upper edges of said latch members forengaging the opposite latch member to limit the downward movement of theinner ends of the latch members, said parts being so arranged that theseries of latches and the. series of channel irons combine to form aladder, substantially as described and for the purposes stated.

Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 11, 1910.

KELLER J. BELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Gommissitner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

